Hadn't seen the dead since 1995 at Soldier Field. We had 5th row seats for Dylan and Phil. I had no idea who Phil's friends were. This show blew me away. Opening with an extended Dark Star Jam. The amphitheater is seated on an old landfill directly in the landing path of Albuquerque airport. Unusual venue, unusual show. Robben Ford and Paul Barrere. Amazing.

This was my first Phil & Friends show and it had been a couple years since I saw the O1 so I did not know what to expect. It was sort of a culture shock at the time.

First he was touring with Dylan, which was awesome, and the local NM Dylan fan club did a presentation to Bob so that was cool.They are devoted in a different way. Dylan opened first and gave an outstanding show. Larry Cambell was in his band as well and played great. They were all decked out in western style suits too.

Once Phil came on the Dylan fans start filing out in droves, I mean opening with a 9 minute jam into DS did not help.
I could not even recognize Speedway when they broke into it, it was definetly a culture shock. I for one call this the noodle phase, although it can get good, it was an new approach and I have to hand it to Phil but I tend to be a purist and don't like total deconstruction of the GD catalogue.

Of this night I thought from Mountains on was really the highlight. Low Spark was really good, actaully this my have been the first time Warren sat in with Phil, pre-Q. Then they go back in DS and then a energic Eyes, which is very good. The Midnight Hour is fun, alittle messy at times, but it ends strongly. The double encore was nice. Bertha is good but Just A Little Light was perfect. Phil loved singing back up to Warren's lead.
The sound on the lawn was horrible I remember the stacks totally distorted out. This recording is good and you only hear that ocassionally toward the end.

This is the Phil era I dig the most 99-02. Phil's friends jamming is so intense during this time and I love the arrangements of the GD songs.
Great show and the sound is good too.

Here's another solid show from the Little Feat/Robben Ford Phil & Friends tour. The recording quality is superb and the performance flows like fine wine. The interplay between Barrere and Ford is very impressive. The more of this tour I hear, the more I'm blown away.
Check out some of the shows from this tour. You won't be disappointed